The imbalance between front and back haul trades increased amid ocean shipping disruptions due to the Red Sea crisis and strong e-commerce demand, especially for Asia-associated lanes. China/Europe routes experienced the largest dynamic load factor imbalance. Air cargo load factor from China to Europe reached 93% in July, while the cargo load factor for the return leg fell to 39%, down 3 percentage points year-on-year and 27 percentage points compared to 2019 levels. In contrast, the imbalance between front and backhaul transatlantic routes is less severe.
